By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The fate of Sesame Street hangs in the balance, as brand owner Sesame Workshop cuts staff in the wake of Warner Bros. Discovery’s decided not to renew its distribution deal.
Sesame Workshop is not only the owner of the Sesame Street brand, but is also an important force in childhood education in the United States and around the world. It is also a significant player in the licensing industry, but with Sesame Street possibly going off the air, the entire franchise is now in peril.
As a result of the cancellation from WBD, Sesame Workshop was forced to cut staffing as it looks for a new TV and/or streaming home for its flagship program. For now, the question of how to get, how to get to Sesame Street will remain unanswered. Without a distribution deal in place, Sesame Workshop will lose the bulk of its revenue, and licensing deals will peter out over time if new episodes aren’t being aired.
Adding to the drama, season 56 is set to begin in April, but doesn’t currently have a home.
“Amid the changing media and funding landscape, we have made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our organization,” a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop told The Hollywood Reporter. “These changes are necessary to ensure that the Workshop is poised to continue to deliver on its mission for years to come, but that does not make the human impact of these reductions any less painful.
“As production of our 56th Season begins next month, we remain as committed as ever to bringing Sesame Street to children and families for decades to come.”
Season 56 of the show will be the first one in its post-HBO era. It also marks a major change for the program, as the company says this season of Sesame Street marks the beginning of an entirely new format, meant to appeal to the tastes of families in the modern era.
After more than half a century of Sesame Street’s “magazine-style” format, in which the show is made up of short and not necessarily connected segments, the new version will feature two longer, narrative driven segments. These will be paired with a new animated series called Tales from 123. Each segment will be 11 minutes long, separated by a segment of the new animated series.
The challenging environment will be met by a new management team, as Sherrie Westin was hired as CEO in 2024, while COO Joseph Giraldi joined the team in early 2025.